Piece by piece to love | Sleepy bois inc

Chapter 18: Tutor

*For yours and my own sake for this ONE chapter Techno will speak normally with longer statements. Because other way we would have to suffer with this cursed text and it's both annoying to write and read*

- This is so cool- Tommy still couldn't get over the fact that he could actually see and TOUCH his uncle! If he only could, he would even count all the feathers in his wings!

- Tommy, you could see me before, I don't understand what has you so excited- he had tried to take his wing away for like six times now, but Tommy wouldn't let it go even for all the treasure in the world.

- I can see you standing right in front of me, man! It's way different than that stupid mirror!- his response fell rapidly as he once again folded and unfolded the held wing. Yeah, Phil just gave up opposing him, so he could do that without doing any harm.

- I̶'̷m̵ ̵h̶o̴n̶e̷s̸t̵l̵y̴ ̵g̸e̴t̷t̴i̷n̵g̷ ̷w̷o̷r̶r̴i̵e̷d̴ ̶a̶b̵o̶u̴t̸ ̴w̴h̵a̵t̴ ̷i̵t̶ ̴w̴i̴l̷l̶ ̸l̵o̶o̵k̶ ̸l̶i̸k̵e̸ ̵i̴f̶ ̸w̸e̸ ̴b̸e̷c̷o̸m̶e̴ ̴v̴i̴s̶i̸b̴l̴e̸...̸- Wilbur murmured, glancing with concern between father and his own tail. As much as he found it stupid, he definitely didn't want to be pulled by it.

- W̶͖̟̍͐e̶̪͝l̸̥̃l̵͚̐,̴̱̿̊ͅ ̴͚̩̅̇ǧ̶̼̹̾o̷̠̐͠o̶̝͐͋d̵̳̘̀ ̸̗̯̿l̴̮̀̿ṵ̴̩̆ç̴̓̾k̵̤͌̔ ̵͙͉̀t̷̡̝͗h̸͔̀͜e̵̝͂̂n̸̤̏.̴͙̜̽̅ ̷̲̣̈́I̷̻̬͛̌ ̴̧̟̆͝s̴̯̠̆̕t̷̠͓̐͐i̵̜̔l̶̪̝̓̂l̴͈͒ ̸̢̥͊h̴̬̀͂a̵̘̿̚ͅv̸̨̑̃e̸͔̍n̵̩̫̂'̷̞̋͠t̸͎̳̅ ̸̮̼̆͝e̸͇̲͌͘v̷͉̿͐ē̷̠͒͜n̶̰̳̏̆ ̶̩͊̕g̸̗̯͛o̸͈̊̋ṯ̴̯̅t̵̤̤͊͂e̸̜̗̚n̶͙̝̔̌ ̴̼̐r̵͈̍̓e̴͎̐f̴͚͐͂l̸̛̘͝ẹ̵͕͊͠c̸̘͐͝t̶̤̽i̴̤̾ő̵̫̾n̵̥̯̚ ̸̺̐ỷ̷͚̾e̵̞̻͒̚t̸̹̾- Techno smirked at him, earning a pout and elbow in ribs. But it only made him laugh more, not feeling almost anything. He knew that would probably take him ages to get one. Dad got his after two weeks of interactions, Wilbur only three days. Techno speculated for himself about... a week minimum.

- Do you want us to bring some of your stuff? You know, to remember?-

- N̴̬̈́ô̸͇ ̸͔͌̎n̸̺͠ͅe̴͈̟̊̑ê̷̱̚d̴̡͇̑ ̶͈̍͐t̵̞̲͗͑o̸̼͊.̸͈͍̚ ̷̘͛̃Ḭ̶͎̀'̷̟̗́l̶̩͒ḽ̴͒ ̴̙͂j̴̤͚̓͝u̴̙̼̒̚ş̷̊̕t̴̡̡̎̚ ̸̡̮̀͘k̶̛̬̭͌ë̶̡͙́e̶̳͍̒̇p̴͍̬̓̄ ̸̧̗͑̅a̴̯̬̓̄n̵̩͋͝ ̵̫̈́e̴͘ͅy̵̜͛e̷̜̦͊̅ ̶̖͌ō̴͔͉ṅ̴͉ ̸̲̈́t̵̟̣͠ȟ̶̦̭ĭ̶̟̘͑s̵͖̓ ̸̦̼̋͑ǐ̸͓d̷͈̀i̷͓͗͘ö̸̫ṭ̴͂̒ ̷̠̥͑ẅ̸̲h̸̛͔̄i̴̳̲̕l̶̡̹͑̈́e̷̞̣͘ ̵̹̾̄ŷ̴̪̞o̴̝̠̔u̴̱͋ ̴̥͆͝ḡ̵̖̮o̷̜̎̽ ̴̺̃͑a̶̡̜̚n̴͍̮̋̕d̸̛̟̈ ̷̪͝r̴͇̒͠e̷̝͊s̷̱̋t̷̞̙̀- earning a loud form of disagreement form Tommy, he huffed content, smirking once again.

- You sure?- Techno nodded, which Wilbur "translated" to Tubbo almost immediately. And so Phil left to have a nap or go back to carving, after his sons forbid him from stepping into the kitchen after the incident, claiming that he needed rest. Duty of cooking the dinner was passed to Tubbo, who under supervision of Wilbur hopped down the stairs as the hour was getting late. And in the room left only Tommy and Techno. But the boy was supposed to stay in bed, so the man just got himself a book, sitting carelessly on the desk. And they stayed like that for about an hour, in absolute silence.

- Hey,Techno...- suddenly Tommy asked weakly, blushing from embarrassment. God, this was so stupid... But the book closed, so the boy knew he caught the ghost's interest.- Could you tell me how to take a good stance? The basic one, I mean. We... didn't get to the attacks or parrys yet...-

- You... want me to teach you the basics of stance?- Techno was surprised, but Tommy nodded. Well, he did promise to help him, he just had no idea that the boy was serious...- Well, it's not only about following guidelines. You need to find your balance first- the guest took Tommy's sword, weighing it slightly in his hands, as if he once again was getting used to it, before pointing at Tommy's stomach.- Not knowing your body and it's possibilities is a common, yet disastrous omision for a novice... stance must be stable, enabling you guard and quickest response. That's why you always have to have your knees bent: they're prepared for the rapid movement that is yet to come- even though the teenaher couldn't see him, he couldn't help getting into the right position. His body moved almost on its own, as if it was natural for it. Right foot forward, following the sword, second in the back, placed almost perpendicular to the rest of the body.

- But... What about those feet? It's so annoying!

- This is what keeps you sturdy. Slightly angled feet position prevents the body from wobbling to the sides and the one that is obligatory is just the most optimal one. And the distance between them is due to balance and time of reaction- being fair Techno wasn't the best person to teach the importance of the perfect stance. And neither was Dream if he could remember properly. Because in the middle of the fight they tend to lose all the taught norms and follow their instincts. They were the gods of the arena, unstoppable beasts that happened to have swords in their hands. It was a game of death and life, where the rules stopped existing. There was only one rule, one goal: win.

- But remember, there is no such thing as a perfect stance, no matter what you do, every time you will leave an uncovered spot. But to prevent losing you must be ready, outsmart the opponent. "Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."* Make your stance flawed on purpose than when your rival doesn't expect anything, he will attack you just the way you want him to. It doesn't always work, so be careful. It's not something that you can use, but a good trick to know. Might be useful for a newbie like you- Techno smirked slightly at Tommy who was staring at his sword swiftly flying through the air with awe. He... actually had no one before who would admire his skills. Yeah, mom and dad were proud of him, but that's not what he meant. Every single person in the fencing club beside Dream was scared of him... he had all this knowledge about fencing, strategy, battles and yet... he had never had anyone to share it with. And then, one day, WHEN NOTHING MATTERS TO HIM ANYMORE... this kid unceremoniously stumbles into his room, claiming that he wants to be a fencer. Just like him. And that he wants him as a tutor. What were the odds of that after his death someone would need, no, WANT his help?

~

- TAKE POSITION!- Dream snapped at the kid, getting annoyed. It wasn't even good... why couldn't he get it right?! It was the easiest thing on Earth, what this kid didn't understand! Tommy heavily got up on his legs, raising the saber. He was determined, he wasn't going to be humiliated again. Not this time.

His footing was wrong, again. Dream bit his lip, furious. WHY?! This brat...! He took aim at his left foot, crooked in the wrong direction, wanting to punish him for his mistake...

But Tommy jumped.

Dream's eyes widened, not believing what he's seeing. For a brief moment he could once again look into those stormy eyes, shielded with glasses, full with beastial rage.

- Techno?- Tommy was standing with a blade near to his teacher's neck as he stood there with fear in his eyes and silent question on his lips.

*I don't even have to credit it, you know what it is

Don't listen to anything I said in here, I have no knowledge about fencing. I just happened to be a guy who's really interested in sword fighting and has a father practicing martial arts.

And a stupid shit that still dreams about fantasyAU. I love knights way too much apparently